1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to web conferencing and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling participation in a web conference as a virtual participant.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid growth of the Internet, people are moving to online meetings, presentations and collaboration using various web based tools such as ADOBE CONNECT® available from Adobe Systems Incorporated. A web conference allows conferencing events, such as web meetings, eLearning and webinars to be shared with remote locations. There may be one or more hosts who present a presentation to a plurality of other people. The people involved in the web conference are referred to herein as participants. Such a presentation may include any form of content (e.g., images, text, multimedia and the like) that is disclosed by one or more people to other participants for any purpose (e.g., discussion, collaboration, training, sharing and the like).
During the meeting, participants may enter text, e.g., questions or comments, into a chat area of a web conference user interface. The text is displayed in the chat area of each participant's computing device. One or more participants may then respond to the text, such that the chat conversation is visible to everyone involved in the web conference. However, to view the chat conversation, a participant must be actively participating in the web conference at his or her computer, which is not always possible.
Hence, there remains an unmet need for a method and apparatus for enabling participation in a web conference as a virtual participant.